Gellért Hill Cave

Inside the Gellert hill there is a cave network. During a sightseeing tour in Budapest you can visit this beautiful place. In the past, a hermit used to live on the premises and used the therapeutic water of the thermal source close to the cave to heal ill people. This water probably has been the same water that is used nowadays in the Géllert baths. During the 19th century a poor family occupied the natural cave. We know this fact thanks to a painting by Mihály Mayr (1860s) and a photo by György Klösz (1877). In the 1920s, the cave was occupied by a group of monks, members of the Pauline order, who constructed the modern entrance to the cave. The rock church was built according to the plans of Kálman Lux, architect and professor at the Budapest University of Technology, after a pilgrimage that some members of the Pauline order made during the 1920s to Lourdes (France). The monks were inspired by similar rock constructions of the French pilgrimage site. The Church has been consecrated in 1926, it performed its religious duties until 1951. In this year, the communists, that had already captured Budapest in 1945, closed the church and chased the monks. Ferenc Vezér, the monastery’s superior, was put to death and the other members of the order were imprisoned for more than 10 years. The chapel reopened in 1989 and by 1992 the Pauline Order had returned to the cave. Behind the chapel there is a monastery equipped with picturesque turrets in neo-gothic style. The church is located in a natural cave and the walls and they have leave in living rock. Worthy of attention is the room in which all the wooden ornaments have been carved by an observant. On the terrace in front of the entrance is placed a statue of Saint Stephen beside his horse. Today the religious functions are performed regularly. The backside of the Church is occupied by the monastery equipped with striking neo gothic turrets. The cave is a natural cave and its walls are in living rock. The natural living rock walls of the cave breath the thousand years of history it has experienced. Among the many rooms, worthy of attention is the one in which all the wooden ornaments have been carved by a devoted. On the terrace in front of the entrance is placed a statue of Saint Stephen beside his horse.

Call us

We speak English! Call us from the United States - Working hours: every day of the week 06:00 to 14:00 (UTC-05:00) Eastern Time (US & Canada)